Thank You for Coming
The camphorous, oily smell of eucalyptus signaled the start of the hills. Looking out with lidded eyes, Sarika rested her chin on the iron bar of the bus window. Her gaze briefly flitted down to a ladybug nipping at her little finger, but the wind caught it and it was gone. She returned her sight to the blurry trees racing past.
“Saru, look at this!” said Sharada’s voice. She turned to see the giant rabbit in a thick parka thumbing through pages of a catalog. “They have a snow trek! And a rock climbing course! And a historical walk! And…”
The bus was loud and annoying. Four chimps were climbing over the seats, hanging off the overhead racks, screaming and laughing at each other. Their parents, the bullfrogs, had their battery of steel tiffins out and open — the whole bus stank of pickle and dal and fish and spice. A few cats forced cheer in the front and sang off-key.
Sarika rolled her eyes and turned back to the window. At least the eucalyptus masked the smell of food. She saw the moon follow along above the tree line, imagining a ninja wrapped in black cloth and shadow racing to keep up, jumping and front-flipping along the canopy and the street lamps. Occasionally a claw or a mouth swept up from the trees but the warrior evaded them effortlessly, single-minded in his purpose to stay abreast of the bus.
The bus climbed along the winding mountain path, slowly making its long way to the Summit Serenity hotel. When the rain started, Sarika imagined the ninja slipping on the wet leaves. He threw a rope to the upcoming lamp and pulled himself forward, and used that burst of momentum to leap forward. Why did he want to stay with the bus so badly? He could stop any time, no?
As they got higher, the rain began to turn to snow. The travel guide — a tall, skinny, goat — asked everyone to close their windows, much to Sarika’s annoyance.
“Look at those big, fat, beautiful chunks, Saru!” said Sharada, pointing to the snow hitting the windshield.
“I could see them if these kids would stop being a menace,” she replied. The smell in the bus was still terrible, the pickle and fish consumed. But it made an unwanted return through the uncle frogs’ loud and open belches and farts. “Ugh, gross!”
“Agreed for once,” said the rabbit, passing her a handkerchief.
“Alright, folks! We’ll be reaching the hotel in just about thirty minutes, so please get ready and make sure you don’t forget anything,” shouted the guide. His cheery cadence sounded strained to Sarika.
By this time, they’d reached high enough that the snow stopped hitting and started falling, and the bus slowed down to a careful trudge up the treacherous road. Sarika looked for her ninja but he was gone, probably not interested in chasing a weakening beast. Instead, she saw snow fairies doing figure eights in the air, competing in a game of chicken to see who could wait the longest before dodging the falling snow.
As the road evened out to a flat expanse, Sarika held the rabbit by the collar while the rest of the pack stood up in the narrow aisle, pulling down their bags and boxes. The bus heaved into place with a slow grunt and a long sigh, stopping in a bright yellow spot. The bullfrogs in the back were the pushiest, and the cluster edged and shouldered its way out the door and on to the hotel. The sisters then exited, thanking the goat on their way out, who was bemused by the acknowledgment now that his usefulness was over.
Outside the bus, Sharada looked around, her ears flapping excitedly. She hopped to the edge of the path and looked over the railing, remarking on the dark void below. Sarika instead followed the yellow and orange lights up the path, until her eyes rested on the massive hotel. The cats were already yapping about their plans, but their mewls were less and less audible as they made their way to the gate.
The cold was making Sarika shiver. Eventually, she corralled Sharada, and they walked up the path. In front of it, a big pile of snow had solidified to ice. They walked around it and in through the front doors, where a kind fox wearing a cherry coat and cap took their luggage. They checked in with the hippo at the counter, who was wearing a similar cherry uniform, and were ushered to their rooms.
Sarika was tired and grumpy, and didn’t care to take in much of the Summit Serenity’s sumptuous room. Before Sharada could claim the bed, she hopped into it first, staking claim. The rabbit huffed and walked into the bathroom, and for the first time in an eighteen hour journey, Sarika could close her eyes and lie in silence.
…The ground was only a few inches below her, as she walked on all fours towards the smell of wet dirt. Reaching a pond, she lapped at the water with urgent intent, and sneezed when she got some in her large snout. The pond began to rumble and ripple, and to her it felt like the whole world was shaking.
An infinitesimal amount of time, her heart beating in her small chest, her stubby legs straining to jump backwards, as the water parted around a long, sickly-green snout and an impossible row of teeth. It was faster, impossibly fast, and she only made it a few inches before it engulfed her entirely and closed around her, erasing white and leaving black...
“Saru, get up!”
She awoke with a start as the giant rabbit shook her way too hard. “They’re calling us for dinner,” said Sharada.
The tourists got together in the intimate yet spacious dining room of the Summit Serenity. Their touring party were the only guests, and a troupe of grinning zebras served them four dainty courses over ninety minutes, until the chimps were sleepy and the bullfrogs licked their lips and rubbed their bellies. Sarika pushed some vegetables around on her plate, begrudgingly eating when Sharada kept insisting how tasty it all was.
After dinner was over, Sarika sat in the lobby while Sharada confirmed plans for the morning at the reception. Eventually, the rabbit dragged her by her hand and they retired to their room. Sarika was morose, and wrapping a blanket around herself, retired to the balcony.
It was freezing cold outside, and despite the heavy duvet, she couldn’t help but shiver. She looked out to the courtyard of the hotel, big chunks of ice sparkling on the ground, snow-capped hardy trees, the smell of eucalyptus faint but persistent. By all accounts, it should’ve been nice.
She looked towards the ample lights, and snow fairies flittered in and around like so many moths to a flame. Sarika could almost hear them. How she wished she could fly alongside them, how nice it would be. But she couldn’t. Inside her was no fairy’s white light, only inky blackness. She sat quiet for a while.
After some time had passed, the giant rabbit gingerly knocked on the glass door and came out to join her. She had two steaming cups with her and pressed one into Sarika’s hands. She sat down with her parka and her own duvet around her, and looked out at the same lights.
“I know it’s been hard lately,” the rabbit said, taking a sip.
“Hmm…” replied Sarika. She briefly glanced at the cup of chocolate in her hand but returned her gaze to the lights.
“I know you’d rather have stayed home, so I appreciate you joining me on this trip.” Its ears flopped one way and then the other.
The snow fairies grew more fervent in their dance. The lights seemed almost too bright for Sarika to continue looking at them. She didn’t reply.
“Thank you for coming. I love you.” Sarika turned to look and the rabbit was no longer there. She looked into the hazel eyes of her sister, who returned her gaze with sincere intent.
“I love you too,” said Sarika. She took a sip of the drink. As the warmth spread down her throat and into her fingertips, she looked out at the lights. The snow fairies were gone, her ninja was in hiding, and the ice lost its sparkle. She felt tears run down her face and salt touch her tongue.
“It’ll be okay, I promise,” said Sharada, huddling them both together under the duvets. Looking out at a snowy night vista, they drank chocolate together in silence.
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